


Moon and Stars

by TheHomestuckWhovian



Series: Nebulous [2]
Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Flashbacks, Gen, Memory Alteration, Memory Related, Minor Adora/Catra (She-Ra), Past Child Abuse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-23
Updated: 2019-01-25
Packaged: 2019-10-13 10:03:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,839
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17486087
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheHomestuckWhovian/pseuds/TheHomestuckWhovian
Summary: After Entrapta reveals a new, shocking fact about Adora, she is forced to wonder about her stolen past and how much Shadow Weaver took from her and Catra.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I told you I had an idea for a sequel.

A figure slipped from the Whispering Woods in the night, passing through the darkness of Thaymor silently. There was no sound with their movement, no footsteps or breath interrupting the night. It seemed no one in Thaymor noticed their presence.

At the edge of the village, there was the rustling of paper, and the aged parchment was held up in the moonlight, which illuminated the map that had been carefully drawn there. Almost glowing eyes scanned the brittle diagram, before looking up in the direction of their path.

"...Let's see if there is anything left to find," they muttered, folding the paper carefully before leaving the tiny village.

They never noticed a tiny girl watching from the shadows.

* * *

Glimmer could tell Adora was on edge.

Of course, she wasn't on edge for the same reason a lot of people were. Most people were on edge because Scorpia, despite technically being a prisoner, wasn't actually much of one (though Glimmer wasn't too concerned, since Scorpia was always with Entrapta, who stuck to her improvised workshop in the castle and was frequently visited by people who could handle Scorpia if required), or because of Entrapta's experiments (and yeah at one point she took blood samples from as many people in the castle as possible but otherwise she had done nothing to actually harm anyone), or because after Catra had woken up she had disappeared almost immediately, and many hadn't been on board with just allowing her to go free in the first place.

But no. Adora was anxious because in every encounter with the Horde since Catra left, she had been nowhere to be found.

Glimmer didn't really know what to do about that. From what she could personally tell, Catra never passed up an opportunity to fight She-Ra (even deathly sick and coughing up blood), and it was pretty easy to assume she had gone back to the Horde (since where else would she go?), and the only guess she had was not one that would exactly reassure Adora. So she and Bow had settled on trying to distract her, with sparring matches and lessons in fun stuff she had missed growing up, and while it wasn't enough to fully distract her, she seemed a bit calmer.

Still, it took several days before Adora was willing to sleep alone in her room, and even then Glimmer and Bow hung out until she finally fell asleep.

"Do you think Catra's okay?" Bow asked as Glimmer shut Adora's door as quietly as possible.

Glimmer frowned as they began to walk away. "I...I don't know. Judging by what Adora told us about the Horde, and considering the Horde lost Entrapta and one of their Force Captains to us..."

Both were silent at the unspoken suggestion.

"...I'm sure she's fine!" Bow declared, his voice filled with forced cheer. "I mean, she wasn't at one hundred percent when she left. Maybe she's resting?"

Glimmer doubted that, but she didn't want to say it aloud. No matter what she thought about Catra, Adora cared about her, and suggesting that she was possibly dead would just hurt Adora.

So Glimmer just smiled back and answered, "Maybe." 

* * *

Adora woke to pounding on her door.

She was on her feet immediately, snatching the sword from its place on the wall and opening the door, expecting soldiers.

Instead it was Entrapta, who was grinning even more excitably than usual (probably not danger... _probably_ ), and Adora let herself be relieved (not annoyed, definitely not annoyed).

"Hey Entrapta, what's going on?" Adora asked, yawning a little. If this had been before her disappearance, she might have been a little unhappy with staying up to listen to Entrapta, especially with her tendency to ramble, but after her "death" and subsequent return...let's just say it was hard for any of the princesses to deny her. And her infodumping could be hard to understand, but Entrapta enjoyed sharing so Adora could shut and listen.

"I discovered something using your blood sample," Entrapta explained, walking in as Adora stepped aside to let her, her voice picking up speed. "The original intention was to confirm that you wouldn't start expressing symptoms of the virus later, and to test your hypothesis that the runestone in your sword caused the virus to remain dormant instead of attacking your cells. But I actually couldn't test your hypothesis, because the virus was destroyed."

"...Huh? How'd that happen?"

"While the sword's runestone may or may not override the virus' code, your immune system already had antibodies to bind to the virus and destroyed it with phagocytosis!"

"Phago-what?"

"...Oh, right!" Entrapta began talking much slower. "These protein cells attach themselves to the weird virus shape, making it unable to make babies, and then say to the cells that they have a bad thing, which causes the cells to eat the bad thing."

"...Huh...that actually sounds pretty cool." Adora had no clue how viral infections worked (she had only had them and they sucked), but the cells eating the virus to get rid of it was kind of a cool concept.

Entrapta's face lit up at that, and she was rambling at full force in an instant. "You're right, it's incredible! And most importantly, you are the only one whose sample yielded this result! I received blood samples from many people across the castle-"

"Actually you just took them without permission."

"-and only your sample reacted this way! So I had to investigate your deoxyribonucleic acid structure and I comparing it to files I had, and ended up confirming my new hypothesis!"

Adora frowned. "Okay? So what is it?"

Honestly, she would later wonder if she shouldn't have asked, if she should have just asked Entrapta let her go back to sleep, but the past was the past and Entrapta had been too excited to deny even if Adora had known what she would say. So, in the end, there was probably no avoiding the revelation Entrapta sprung on her early that morning.

Still, some part of her wished she had been prepared for Entrapta to grin brightly and announce, in the most cheerful and non-threatening voice, "You're a First One!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Entrapta:** You're a First One, Adora!  
>  **Adora:** Imma wot?
> 
> So there are your answers, btw. I kind of hinted at it in Sun Fever in Entrapta's explanation of the eponymous illness, where she mentioned First Ones developing antibodies.
> 
> This story is gonna take some lore from the 80s show, with my own spin on it of course cuz AU! I do hope you enjoy this. The next chapter will continue this storyline, and also introduce the B-plot. Stay tuned!


	2. Chapter 2

_"It doesn't matter where we came from. The Horde is everything we need."_

_"I don't...I don't think we're supposed to talk about...that."_

_"Join the club. It would certainly make things easier if there was anyone like me out there, but who gives a shit? As long as we're together, that's all we need, right Adora?"_

_" **There is no point fixating on the past, Adora. You were nothing before the Horde, before I made you something. Remember that.** "_

_And yet, no matter what Lonnie or Kyle or Catra or Shadow Weaver said, Adora still thought about it. She still thought about the nebulous past that she had no connection to, the parents she knew had to exist, but had given her up or lost her or been lost themselves. And with guardians like Shadow Weaver, who Adora feared more than she loved, it was no wonder she thought a lot about what things would have been like if she had never been found by Shadow Weaver._

_But then she looked at Catra and decided it didn't matter, because she'd rather have a life with Catra in it than not._

* * *

Adora stared at the ceiling, and the loneliness of her room felt overpowering after such a shock to her system. There was no hope of going back to sleep now.

It...hadn't answered any of her questions, only raised more. How had she been found? Where had she come from? What did being a First One mean for her now? Had Shadow Weaver  _known_?

She must have. Shadow Weaver had expected more out of her than anyone, had favored her over all the others, even when she hadn't really been all that significantly better than them (except maybe Kyle, but that was because Kyle was just expected to get it like the rest of them and was quickly left behind when he didn't), and Catra was honestly always the one who should have been favored, what with a built in weapon, better senses, and better resistance to disease and accelerated healing.

But now it made sense.

Adora was a First One.

And she still didn't understand anything. How had she ended up on Etheria centuries after the First Ones disappeared? How had Shadow Weaver gotten her? What was she going to do?

Her first thought was to go back to the Crystal Temple, and speak to Light Hope, but she mentally scratched that one out about thirteen times.

Light Hope was not going to give her answers. Light Hope would probably tell her that her past was some attachment she had to let go of, which was wildly unhelpful when all she needed was to know one thing right now and the rest could wait and damn now Adora was pissed at a program again.

So...where was she supposed to go?

And that's when the idea came to her.

* * *

"I think I made Adora upset," Entrapta noted aloud, working on a new robot.

The purpose of this one was to monitor Scorpia's activity so she could wander the castle more, since most felt uncomfortable when Scorpia wasn't with her, and while Scorpia had been very cooperative as a "prisoner", no one except Entrapta was certain Scorpia wasn't going to break out of the castle or attack anyone.

Scorpia patted her shoulder. "I'm sure she's not upset with you. It's probably just confusing, y'know?"

"No, I don't."

"Well, that might be because it's not confusing for you?" Scorpia suggested. "Most people trained in the Horde don't have any parents, or if they do they'll probably never meet them. So Adora probably just had to deal with never knowing for the longest time. And aren't the First Ones all supposed to be dead?"

"Actually, they didn't die. They...left...I think..." Entrapta frowned. "Thousands of years ago, they all just disappeared. There aren't any remains beyond their technology, so it can be assumed that they left the planet, but nothing I've found has helped me figure out why. It seems like it was sudden, due to no information indicating they were planning on leaving Etheria, but I have yet to gain any data that indicates a natural disaster or any other emergency."

"...Weird," Scorpia muttered. "Wait, then how is Adora here?"

Entrapta's frown deepened. "That's another problem. Either her ancestors remained on Etheria, or she ended up being brought here later. So the real question is...how? How is she here now?"

Before Scorpia could say anything, a flash of pink light heralded Glimmer's arrival.

"Hey Scorpia, my mom needs us in the throne room." Before either of them could say anything, Glimmer grabbed Scorpia's claw and with another pink flash both were gone.

Entrapta sighed, then turned to her computer. Her hair tugged her recorder out of her pocket and pressed the record button.

"Bright Moon Log, Day 14. The beacon had a planet monitoring system among its various utilities, though the data has been corrupted. My focus right now is to fix the corrupted data, in an attempt to uncover the event that led to the disappearance of the First Ones, and any activity in the past seventeen years that could indicate how a descendant of the First Ones ended up on Etheria again.

"Now...where should I start?"

* * *

Scorpia and Glimmer flashed into existence in front of the doors to the throne room.

"Okay, so Princess Frosta is in there," Glimmer began quickly. "She is going to decide on your punishment for your crimes against the Kingdom of Snows, specifically what happened at Princess Prom."

"...Oh." Well that was terrifying. "I guess we should go in there, then?"

Glimmer nodded, and pushed the doors open, leading Scorpia inside.

"Princess Scorpia," Queen Angella greeted, nodding at her. "Commander Glimmer, you are excused."

Frosta was looking at her, and Scorpia looked at the floor, a little intimidated. This kid had managed to hold her entire castle together through pure willpower, and now she was staring at her with no emotion. Scorpia was a full grown adult and she still felt like she was going to turn to ice under that stare.

Glimmer gave her a sympathetic look before vanishing in light pink sparkles, and she was alone to face her fate.

"Princess Scorpia of the Crimson Wastes," Queen Angella spoke, her voice stern. "You have been shown great leniency as a prisoner here. While Princess Mermista has agreed to pardon you, Princess Frosta must be allowed to decide what she believes is a fitting punishment for you."

Scorpia held back a wince. Mermista had really only pardoned her for the attack on the Sea Gate because of Entrapta, but Frosta had no reason to show her any leniency. And yeah, she deserved a harsh punishment, but she was still terrified about what Frosta would do to her.

She gave a hesitant nod, looking at the floor and waiting for Frosta to speak.

"Princess Scorpia," Frosta spoke. "You illegally brought weapons into the ball, launched an unwarranted attack on my kingdom, and kidnapped two of my guests. For breaking the rules of the ball, the traditional punishment is to have you banned from the Kingdom of Snows. However, your actions call for a harsher punishment."

Frosta was going to kill her.

"Queen Angella, I would like to ask the circumstances of Princess Scorpia's presence here?"

"She surrendered in return for medical treatment for a friend of hers," Queen Angella answered simply. "We have delayed the trial to allow you a chance to decide her punishment."

Frosta nodded. "I see. Well, I have decided."

She didn't even get the chance to say bye to Entrapta.

"As punishment for your actions in the Kingdom of Snows, I sentence Scorpia..."

Fuck.

"...to daily meetings with me."

...

What?

"...Meetings?" Queen Angella asked, seeming just as surprised as Scorpia was.

"Yes," Frosta answered, nodding. "You invited me to remain as a guest here for ten days. Every evening while I am here, I expect Princess Scorpia to meet with me for an hour. Once I leave, I will leave your court to decide her punishment for her actions in Bright Moon."

"...I see," Queen Angella answered, even though she appeared to still be confused. Scorpia was right there with her. "Very well. Princess Scorpia, you are free to return to Entrapta's lab. Your trial will be in eleven days."

Scorpia nodded, before turning and leaving the room, where Bow and Glimmer were standing, slack-jawed.

"Well...that went better than expected."

* * *

The Woods were healing strong it seemed. It was now only slightly easier to navigate them, meaning after several hours Adora gave up and flopped on the ground and stared at the blank sky.

"...Uuuuuuuugh!" She pressed her palms against her face. "I hate this."

"Now, where's that can-do attitude?"

She groaned again. "Not now, Swift Wind."

"Did you really expect me not to show up when you've been giving me distressed signals all day? I was trying to go lead a horse revolution but your teen angst was making it hard to think."

"Not helping." And this was definitely more than teen angst anyway.

Swift Wind rolled his eyes. "Come on, what's the problem anyway? I know you've been stressed but things are definitely more intense than before."

Why did she have to get a horse with a psychic connection to her brain? She had only learned what a horse was like two months ago (and goddamn that was an uncomfortably short time for how much had happened).

"Is it about Catra?" Swift Wind asked, clearly not getting the message of how very not in the mood Adora was. "It usually is with you."

"No, it's not about Catra."

"Oh dang. That's actually pretty surprising. What is it then?"

"Well I'm actually part of an ancient, possibly long dead species that lived on this planet thousands of years ago, and now I'm having an existential crisis," Adora answered, glaring up at him from the ground. "Happy?"

"...No? I actually just have more questions."

She sighed, gazing up at the sky as she did. "Well, that makes both of us." She closed her eyes and groaned.

"...I'm just going to go." And with a shift of wind, he was gone.

Adora sighed, rolling over onto her stomach and resting her head in her hands. She hated how completely disarmed she felt, now that she knew. All this time wondering and convincing herself that she didn't need to know when she did, and now she had no idea how to handle it.

Maybe she should have waited before running off to find answers that might not even exist. And her plan had hinged on...what exactly? That she'd get a straight answer out of-

"Oh dear, it appears your friend was right."

Her eyes snapped open, meeting the pair behind the thick pair of glasses.

"Madame Razz."

**Author's Note:**

> My tumblr is [boopboopitydoop](https://boopboopitydoop.tumblr.com). Come visit if you want to talk with me about how awesone She-Ra is!
> 
> Later guys!


End file.
